Ralis turned towards the movement in the corner of his eye and smiled as he saw Raigh approaching them. He had never met another half Na’tyr before and had so many questions. That was the other reason he had wanted to stay so badly. She smiled back at him and gave him a wink as she grabbed his arm.
“Ralis, come talk with me. I’m not tired yet.” Before anyone could react Raigh pulled Ralis away from his friends and their tents.
Ralis didn’t resist, surely, she had just as many questions for him as he had for her. As they moved away from the others, he caught Miri’s eye and felt a pang of guilt at how sad and disappointed she looked. He smiled back apologetically but knew it wouldn’t be enough for whatever was upsetting her.
As Ralis looked at Raigh’s caravan he understood why his friends had thought it was a cage at first, the door and windows were made of iron bars and the massive lock that Raigh retrieved from the grass looked formidable. She laughed at his expression and opened the cage door.
“As I said, it’s for my protection mostly.” Still holding Ralis’s hand she led him into the caravan. “I’m sure you know that the Na’tyr really hate us for some reason and Humans get freaked out when they see something they don’t entirely understand. This way it looks like I’m just another caged carnival act, like the bear or the lion.”
“That’s horrible, you shouldn’t have to hide like that.”
Raigh shrugged. “That’s the way the world is, I’m used to it. I only ever met one half Na’tyr that had it easy growing up and I think he’s dead now.”
While the outside looked like a prison the inside was surprisingly cozy and comfortable. A thin bed was tucked into one corner smothered in cozy pillows and blankets, the other walls had tall cupboards nailed to them and at the end of the bed was a large trunk. There was even a small writing desk that seemed to get very little use.
Ralis looked away. Raigh’s words had brought all too painful memories to mind. “My mother and I were pretty isolated. Overall, I think I had a happy childhood, but we weren’t without our troubles. It was the Humans at the nearby town that were the worst of it.”
Raigh seemed to know better than to ask further and continued with her topic of conversation. “I actually talked to an older half Na’tyr a few years ago, when we were travelling in southern Madaria. Did you know that there were Na’tyr around before the Queen took over? The way Humans tell it you’d think that Demons didn’t exist before.” She then giggled. “I was surprised that your friends use the word Na’tyr, most people just say Demon.”
“It took Miri and Amri awhile to get used to it, but Ezra and Browen grew up around Na’tyr so it wasn’t strange for them.” Ralis allowed himself to be pulled towards the bed and the pair took a seat on it. “You’re the first half Na’tyr I’ve ever met.”
“Really?” She gave him a curious half-smile. “Well that older one, he was born way before the Queen took over Madaria. He told me that before, the Na’tyr didn’t have a problem with mixed blood. They still avoided everyone else, but they weren’t hunting each other. Then after, for some reason, all Na’tyr started to hate us half Na’tyr. It doesn’t make sense to me at all. The Queen has an army of Na’tyr so why would she, or anyone else, care that we exist?”
“Things don’t usually make sense when emotions are involved, and hate is a particularly strong emotion.” Ralis learned back and realized he still had the lute as it bumped against the wall of the wagon. “I forgot to return this.”
“We can talk to Fin in the morning. Although I don’t think he’ll mind you keeping it.” She laughed as she leaned the lute against the wall. “How did you do that by the way? No one could keep their eyes off you and that was before you started singing.”
“I don’t know, I’ve always been like that.” He replied with a shrug.
“Strange…” Raigh frowned in thought and then leaned closer. “And Ralis is your real name? Not some nickname?”
“It’s the name my mother gave me. What about you? The Ringmaster called you Rai...”
“Don’t!” She cut him off with a glare. “I hate that name.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault… Yeah Raigh is technically a nickname, but only the Ringmaster uses my real name.” She gave him a teasing smile. “Why are you going to Esper?”
“It’s complicated.” Ralis looked away, he didn’t want to lie to her but also couldn’t tell her the truth.
“You and your friends are a strange bunch; how did you all meet?” She pressed.
“That’s also complicated.” Ralis looked back to Raigh with a slight frown.
Raigh’s smile disappeared and she sighed. “I don’t want to lie to you. The Ringmaster wanted me to find out about you and your friends. He wants to make sure you’re not going to cause us trouble.”
Ralis took her hand in his. “I promise you we won’t be any trouble. We just need to discreetly get to Esper as fast as possible. I don’t want to lie to you either, but I can’t tell you anything else.”
“I get it. Well, now that that’s over with...” Without warning she reached her hands into Ralis hair and he could feel her fingers brush over his horns with a laugh. “I can’t believe how small your horns are!”
Ralis blushed as he looked at her much longer, more impressive, horns. “It’s not something I have any control over.”
“Fair enough.” Her eyes then trailed to his wings. “I am jealous of those though. Can you really fly or are they just for show?”
“I can fly, maybe I’ll show you later.” He flexed his wings, showing off their impressive span as best he could in the small wagon.
“Is that why you don’t wear a shirt? Or does that help with the charming thing?” She teased as her eyes trailed across his fit physique.
The room suddenly felt very small and Ralis felt himself blushing even brighter. He had been with enough men and women in his life to not feel shy about his body. And yet the half Na’tyr looking him up and down made him feel nervous like it was the first time someone found him attractive. “Both? What about you? How do you fire dance?”
“That’s easy, I can do more than dance with fire. I can bend it to do anything I want.”
Her tail flicked excitedly and accidentally landed on top of Ralis’s. He felt his heart leap in excitement at the touch and their eyes locked on one another.
“I’ve met a few half Na’tyr in my travels, and their abilities are always so different. But you are the most interesting one I’ve met so far.” Raigh leaned in so close that their lips almost touched. “Can I kiss you?”
Ralis smiled at the question then leaned in and kissed her. Their lips tangled together in a passion that felt so new and exciting to Ralis. She was not charmed by him; she had never been charmed by him and yet she wanted him. Her kisses were warm like a cozy fire and he felt himself hunger for more as she pulled herself up onto his lap and ran her fingers through his hair. He could not help it as his own hands explored along her back and eventually came across her tail which he slid his fingers down. It was smooth and strong like his.
“Hey.” She laughed pulling away both her lips and her tail. “No tail, ok? It tickles.”
“Sorry.” He moved his hands to instead rest on her legs. “I’ve never been with… someone like me before.”
“Neither have I.” She confessed with a blush of her own. “This will be interesting.”
She leaned down to kiss him again and he pulled her closer to him. As the heat of their kissing grew more intense, he felt her undoing the corset that bound her chest, then their skin was bare against each other. She pushed him into a more horizontal position on the bed, careful of his wings, and stood as she worked to undo her pants.
Ralis’s heart was racing and his hands went to his own pants, but he hesitated as a thought invaded his
mind. “What if we slowed down?”
“What?” She asked, confused as her pants hit the floor of the caravan.
Ralis sat up and tried very hard not to look at her exposed body. “This is new for both of us, and we’re going to be travelling together for a while. Let’s take things slowly.”
All the physical relationships he had experienced before, had been brief and hollow. A moment of passion to chase away the loneliness for a night. This was different, she wouldn’t be embarrassed to kiss him, or suddenly leave and never be seen again after she got what she wanted. He needed something more and wondered if she would be the one to give it to him.
“I want to try something.” He offered as he noticed her expression fall in disappointment. “I don’t want this to be just another meaningless fling.”
She turned to look out the thin barred window. “Your friend Miri really wants to leave. What if we don’t get an opportunity again?”
Hearing Miri’s name made Ralis’s gut twist into knots, but he ignored it as he sat up and took Raigh’s hands in his. “We have until Esper, I promise. We can really get to know one another.”
“So, it’ll hurt that much more when you have to leave? I’d rather keep it casual.” Raigh smiled sadly.
He hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t want to hurt you, maybe we shouldn’t do this at all.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She laughed as she sighed. “I want to do this, but if you want to go slow, then... I guess we’re going slow.”
He smiled and pulled her close to him again. “It’ll be that much better when it does happen.”
“It better.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Can we still kiss?”
Ralis nodded and she climbed back on top of him, lips first.
It had been a struggle to pull away from Raigh, but Ralis knew if he spent too much longer in her company, he would not have been able to resist her naked form any longer. It was getting late anyway, and he wanted some sleep before they left in the morning. He climbed into the tent that he shared with Browen as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake him.
“Have fun?” Browen whispered, his eyes still closed as Ralis joined him.
“We just talked.” He whispered back with a blush.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Browen shared, propping his head up with his hand as Ralis laid down next to him. “But then again I’ve only ever wanted to kiss two people.”
Ralis smiled cheekily. “I know about… Amri.” He whispered her name quietly. “But who’s the other one?”
Browen blushed and looked away. “That’s a secret.”
“Is it me?” Ralis teased.
Browen sighed. “Well you did charm me when we first met.”
Ralis looked away with an embarrassed grimace, he wanted to be right but not for that reason. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Browen smiled. “I’m not charmed anymore.”
“But you still want me to kiss you?” Ralis couldn’t help himself as he looked back to his friend with a teasing wink.
Browen blushed again but didn’t look away this time. “No one knows this, but I was unofficial betrothed before I left Verta.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “To Lady Isador Vermont. I was told we would make an excellent match. She was pretty, but…”
Ralis didn’t need Browen to finish, it had been obvious from the moment they first met how head over heels Browen was for Amri. And, in a cruel irony, Amri seemed to be the only one who didn’t notice. Regardless they were already close friends before their adventure had begun and travelling together had only brought them closer, yet not as close as Browen clearly longed to be.
“You’ve kissed lots of people, right?” Browen timidly asked after the silence had hung long enough in the air.
“And other things, yes.” Ralis replied honestly.
“Did you love all of them?”
Ralis blinked at the question. “I felt something for all of them, yes. I wouldn’t have kissed or done things with them otherwise. But I don’t think that I have ever been in love. In my... isolation, I never thought that love was something I would have the luxury of finding.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know.” Ralis shrugged. Following through on lust had become almost second nature to him, and yet he had backed off with Raigh. He didn’t even really understand why. They had both wanted each other, but at that moment it hadn’t been enough.
“We should get some sleep.” Browen finally said, after another long silence with only the sound of the crackling fire and the night to fill it.
“Sweet dreams Browen.”
Browen blushed and turned over to get more comfortable. “Good night Ralis.”
Ralis flipped onto his back, his wings carefully laid out to either side of him as he closed his eyes. He had been fifteen the first time he had laid with another. She had been special, the first person who visited him out of curiosity. He thought that he was in love with her, but when she left and never returned, he understood that it wasn’t love that he had felt. She had been the start of the rumors, the ones that brought other lonely men and women to visit his cabin. Despite his inexperience in those early years, he had apparently made an impression.
His mother had known. And, whether from the guilt of her son being forced to live alone in the woods or something else, she had never been bothered by his visitors. She had told Ralis once that he had so much love to give to the world, and that it was a crime that he had to live in isolation.
He had loved them all, in those moments they spent together, no matter how brief. It may not have been the same kind of love that Browen felt for Amri, but it was a love all the same. And it had been enough. It wasn’t until he joined Miri and her quest, that he questioned what a relationship could be, and wondered if that was something he wanted.
Chapter Six
Miri
Miri could not sleep despite everyone else’s confidence that they were safe in the carnival’s camp. She had heard Ralis return late into the night while she tossed and turned. The vision of him locked in one of those cages and buried in gold coins had pulled her awake every time she felt herself start to drift. She had no doubt that this was the place that her vision had warned her about. The Ringmaster’s greedy eyes had all but confirmed that she needed to get Ralis away before it was too late.
She felt exhausted as the first light of morning began to illuminate the inside of the tent, and the sound of movement outside woke everyone else. When they finally left their tent, most of the campsite had already been packed up and the wagons had been hitched to their horses ready for another day of travel. Even Miri was impressed with the speed and efficiency that the troupe worked.
With Ezra and Amri’s help the girls packed up their tent, just as Ralis and Browen climbed out of theirs. Both looked as if they hadn’t slept at all the night before.
Within minutes of everyone waking the entire camp was packed and all evidence of their stay had practically vanished. Together with the wagons they made for the nearby road, which had been surprisingly not far from the clearing. Ralis had disappeared again shortly after waking to join Raigh at her wagon. It, like the other caged wagons, was hitched to the back of one of the larger caravans. Miri had scowled at Ralis’s back as he left. She hated that she couldn’t control the burning emotions that rampaged through her when she thought about what they were doing.
She and the others caught a ride on one of the open wagons filled with supplies and took a seat between the many crates. Miri flipped her hood up and pulled herself as tight as she could to the box at her back. She felt anxious to be traveling so exposed and on the main road. It was against everything that she had ever been taught. Ezra, Amri and Browen did not seem to share her concerns. Ezra especially se
emed elated to not be stuck walking all day.
Kim moved between the travelling wagons and passed everyone the breakfast that she had prepared early that morning. It was not anything fancy, a hard biscuit and a thick slice of meat and cheese, yet Miri had to admit that it tasted more delicious than the bland unseasoned game she usually caught.
The wagon that they rode on was situated near the middle of the long caravan. As they progressed, Miri kept looking down the line for a sign of Ralis or of Raigh’s wagon. She not only felt worried that he was getting himself into the exact trouble that her vision had warned her of, but she also felt an inexplicable anger at the idea of the pair being alone. It was a thought she hated to linger on too long.
They had covered a lot of ground when someone at the front decided that they would pause for lunch. The caravan pulled over to the edge of the road and many of the carnival troupe members got out of their wagons to stretch their legs. Kim and a few others got to work on preparing a hot meal over a camp stove.
“Perhaps we should find Ralis?” Miri offered, as she and the others hopped off the wagon and stretched.
“I’m sure he’s fine.” Ezra rolled her eyes at Miri’s concern.
“We could check on him, we haven’t seen him since this morning.” Amri kicked a pebble as she agreed with Miri.
“You too?” Ezra sighed. “He’ll find us if he wants to see us.”
Miri frowned. “I think Raigh is a bad influence on him.” The words had tumbled out of her before she had even fully considered their implications.
“Well, I think it’s good for him to talk to someone like Raigh, they have a lot in common.” Ezra answered as she led them towards the smell of food. “Think about it Miri, you grew up surrounded by Elves, you had plenty of people to talk to about your experiences with. But Ralis didn’t, he didn’t even have friends until he met us. Let him have this moment.”
Miri sighed in defeat. She had longed to talk with another who was gifted with the Sight. No one else could understand what she was going through, and she had felt lonely not having anyone to speak with about it. Perhaps she did owe Ralis this moment, as Ezra put it.
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